Snow

Adults and children love snow , the only difference is that children admit that they like it and adults pretend that they don't but , deep down inside , the child in them remembers....

A very heavy snowfall when I was young still stays in my memory . We woke up one morning and there it was ....The whole suburban neighbourhood looked different . During the night an invisible hand (as the saying goes ) , had decorated trees ,walls , fences , and made ordinary or in some cases , ugly -looking buildings look beautiful . At first it wasn't really deep , certainly not crisp , it wasn't even even....even . But it was SNOW....and later on it snowed some more and more until footpaths were indistinguishable from roadways . We decided to make a giant snow-boulder , just as we had seen ' Desperate Dan ' do in the Dandy .
It was not as easy as it looked and three of us struggled to push a huge ever -increasing snowball in the general direction of Orwell Hill , gathering leaves , twigs , empty cigarette cartons , all the pavement detritus of the locality including occasionally , pieces of dog-poo . But despite our efforts we never did make it as far as the hill and had to abandon it , and for all I know it may still be slowly melting away somewhere in the area to this day .
We made our snowmen , pelted each other with snowballs and enjoyed the free entertainment .
But the best was still to come . It froze . This must have been 1947 , because , since , I have heard many people who are even older than I am talk about the terrible winter of '47 .
When the snow froze , the deep ruts that had been made , by the few cars that were around at the time , became icy channels , we built tunnels and bridges for our toy soldiers . We made slides on the already slippery footpaths , completely oblivious of the danger to our elderly neighbours .
These slides were 10 or 12 feet long and gave us great excitement but were very dangerous ,and we occasionally received a 'skelp' of a walking stick or an umbrella from the old folk . No running to parents or guardians or the police in those days , we reckoned that we had it coming . Besides , we could always get our own back by throwing snowballs , but even snowballs were dangerous then , because when the snow was compacted it became ice and could cause serious injury....
For the growups that must have been a particularly bad time .Most deliveries were still being made by horse-drawn vehicles , and horses often slipped on the frozen surfaces and had to be removed from the carts . Trams stopped or had infrequent services .But people generally seemed to manage and the older generation were particularly cared for by their neighbours and close family.
Eventually the snow melted and the traffic reclaimed the streets , frozen waterpipes were fixed , schools re-opened and we walked to school , still trying to make slides on the , now almost ice-free , footpaths.......

Robin

Robin had been feeling uneasy all day . He had been awakened on his perch in the little barn by the sound of wind-driven icy branches tapping against the window . The weather had grown even colder during the day , flurries of snow were already falling . The coming of cold weather meant little food would be available inside or outside the barn . He ruffled his rust-red feathers .
Robin had a clear view of the front door of the inn-tavern beside the barn .The man inside was locking up for the night ,shutters slammed down , door closed and bolted , lanterns dimmed .All was quiet.
Darkness was closing in and Robin decided to fly back to his nest in the barn as there would be no more food available this night .
But the uneasy feeling persisted , something extra-ordinary was going to happen .He heard a sound .
Despite the falling snow he could see a short distance up the road and was soon able to identify a donkey with a woman on his back , being led by a man walking beside . The man had been consoling the woman with gentle comments , but his voice rose with excitement when he saw the dim light of the tavern . When they arrived at the tavern the man pounded with his fists on the door . No reply . He pounded again , still no reply and again ...until eventually the man inside opened a shutter and shouted something to the man outside . The man outside was persistent and eventually the man inside came and opened the door slightly but wide enough for Robin to be able to catch a brief glimpse of a blazing fire and food laid out on tables....giving a feeling of warmth and companionship . The man outside appealed to the man inside who eventually pointed to the barn where Robin lived .
The barn was small and the animals that stalled there kept the absolute cold out with their body-heat and the couple seemed to be grateful to have some shelter .
Robin flew back to his nest in the rafters and watched as the man and the woman settled in .The woman unwound her long heavy cloak , the man took the blanket off the donkey and made her as comfortable as possible . Robin was disappointed that no food seemed available and eventually he went to sleep listening to the soothing sounds that the man made to comfort the woman .
He woke again to the sound of a baby 's cry . The man and the woman were making sounds of joy mixed with a little weeping , over their new-born boy . Robin knew that he was experiencing something special and felt privilaged to be part of this beautiful , intimate , family scene , before the world at large came in to share it .
Over the following days the world did come , by some mysterious means the word went out that something special had happened and old and young , rich and poor , foreign and local came to visit the child . The local children came first of course , Robin knew them well and there was always spare food scattered when they came , Rebecca , Amber , Sophie , David closely followed by Gracie .
As days passed the man and the woman became anxious , again , and they appeared to be preparing to travel . And then , one morning , they were gone.......

That was the beginning ......
Robin was not to know that many years later and not too far away , another robin from another generation would witness that baby , now grown , when the young man was once again alone except for his mother and a small group of people , or images of thorns , cross , nails , blood staining a robins breast.....and Robin-Redbreast would forever be associated with another wonderful event.......
And even today , over two thousand years later , although almost everything else has changed , the message of peace and justice and goodwill to all men still remains the same .

LOOK OUT !..Here comes Gracie....!

''It's not really fair , I mean , after all the trouble I took to get here , you would think that SOMEONE would have made an effort to clean up the mess . I'm not really blaming Maw and Paw , for I love them dearly and they did their best . But just think about it , here I am arriving in all my glory and what have they laid on for me ? ....A RECESSION !...and not just an ordinary , common or garden , recession , oh no , it's a GLOBAL RECESSION , the WORST IN 100 years (whatever they are ) , and that's not all .........how about GLOBAL WARMING ??? They are melting the planet , before I even get a chance to cuddle a Polar Bear ( whatever THEY are ) and as for the State of Africa ! I can't wait to get out there and kick some ass , ( I've had plenty of practice at THAT ! ) , and sort out that continent .
Just as soon as I can figure out how to get out of this crib , open the door , and head outside I'm off to Africa , nothing will stop me . WAIT ?Oh ! HELP , WHAT's THAT ?? , o.k...o.k...o.k , nothing to worry about , it's just the shadow of my hand on the crib-cover ....whew ! that was scary for a while !!!! Maybe I won't go to Africa today .....I'll go tomorrer instead ( please don't criticize my pronounceation , or my spelling , after all I'm only a few hours old .)
All that excitement has made me feel tired again , so...I....thinkk . I'lllll...just have ....another ....little .....nap......g'night....Maw....g'night Paw.... g'night Doc...........

ALL :GOODNIGHT GRACIE ........WELCOME !!!!

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

''Slick ''

One day last week one of my brothers said to me ,''by the way , Johnny O' Neill died .''
At the time I replied something like ,''oh , I'm sorry to hear that ..''
But , once again a door was opened in my mind and memories of growing up in Rathgar came in ....
When I lived on Rathgar Avenue between 1940 and 1966 our neighbours were a mixture of the remnants of the ''old acendency '' Church of Ireland families and young Catholic families , names such as Harwood , Lane , Lemon , De Lemere , were intersperced with , Kennedys, O'Neills , Dowlings etc.
The O'Neills lived directly across the road from ourselves .I didn't know Johnny very well as he was of an older group than even my older brothers but we got to know about him through his younger brother .Johnny was a drummer in a band . He knew many of the popular musicians of the time and moved in those circles . He was nicknamed ''Slick '' by his peers At the time 21st birthday parties were usually held in the homes and in our house Johnny was often unofficial master of ceremonies , provider of music both live and recorded , through his friends and contacts .
My mother had bought an upright piano , at one of the many auctions that were taking place in the neighbourhood at that time . I had never seen any member of the family playing except possibly Aunt Annabee , gently accompanying herself as she screeched out endless verses of ''The Lovely Lakes of Leitrim '' .But ''Slick's'' friends were different , they did not play the '' p..yawn..o '' , they played the ''pie..anna '', not the same at all . Honky-tonk , jazzy , blues , and the pianist would keep going as long as the Guiness kept flowing . Once we were told that EARL GILL'S FATHER was coming along with Johnny . WOW !( 'round about that time Earl Gill was the leader of one of the best dance-bands in Ireland , he played the trumpet , if ''Slick'' O'Neill was Rathgar's answer to Gene Krupa , Earl Gill was Ireland's answer to Harry James ).
The 21st parties usually happened on Saturday nights and went on all night . Our parents would have gone to bed . In hindsight it must have been very loud for such a quiet area , but I never heard of one complaint from our neighbours and I know if there had been our parents would have ended the party immediatly . Apart from Christmas that was the only time alcohol was in the house .
Early Sunday morning , having removed the comotose piano players from behind the setee , probably still holding a half -empty (half-full?) glass , we prepared to set out for morning mass in Mount Argus , where the Passionists had the earliest mass ...6 a.m., We made our way down past Garville , Harolds Cross , Clareville road , and eventually into the end seats of the beautiful church , slept through mass and slowly made our way home again.....another great night .
Sometime in the early sixties RTE had a popular TV soap called ''The Riordans'' , we heard that Johnny was to play a small speaking role in the show , a house -painter , one of his lines was some thing like :''Well missus , would you like me to paint a MURIEL on the wall of your bedroom ?''.

The PP and others

I knew I had a vocation to become an altar-boy when my mother took me to the local parish church and informed me that I was to become an altar - boy .......because all my friends were.
It turned out to be a very interesting experience involving many early mornings and occasionally a little money .
For most of the ten years that I served , the parish priest was a man named Father Union ( later Canon Union ). A most unusual man for his time . He had obviously been educated in Rome and he visited there as often as possible . A visit to Ireland from a former classmate of his was the highlight of his vocation , Cardinal Ageginian 's (?) visit in the fifties was greeted with ceremony only equalled in 1979 for Pope John Paul II visit and Canon Union was at the heart of it
As altar boys we did not meet him all that often except when serving his mass . But on one occasion he overheard a group of us (mid-teens ) arguing over the merits of a then -famous film actress :'' Who're you talking about ?'' he asked , we thought ,''We're for it now!'', ''Gina Lolobrigida '',we said.......thinking that he would not have heard of her....''NO , no ,no that's not the way to pronounce her name it' LA Lollo bridge EEEEDA ''
The annual Missions were an important part of the church year , just before Lent each year a group of Missioneries from orders such as , Franciscans , Carmelites , Jesuits (always way above me in both stature and vocabulary ) and most dramatic of all the Passionists from Mount Argus . would visit the parish for two weeks , the first week was for the women and the second was for the men . We , the altar boys had to attend both mornings (mass ) and evenings (sermons and benediction ). The Passionists were our favourites ,men in black (almost ), flowing cloaks with high collars , like Batman or Dracula , wide leather belts like John Wayne but instead of a gun they carried a large crucifix . (There is a story , and I'm not claiming that it's true , that one of these missioneries on the second night of the mens' mission asked some altar boys to place , wrapped mint sweets on the seats ( one for everybody ) , to help prevent coughing during the sermon , which had happened the previous night .
After the sweets had been distributed , a drunken man came in late , burstng open the main doors , he ambled up the main aisle of the crowded church ( like Gary Cooper in High Noon ) , elbowed his way into the front seat , just below the pulpit where the priest was giving his sermon and started to cough loudly . The priest , indicating the peppermint on the seat , said to the drunk man (sotto voce)...''For ..cough....For cough ,forcough ''...The drunk looked up at the priest , lurched out of his seat , shouted ''F*ck Off yerself !'' over his shoulder ,and walked out ) Following two weeks of prayer and penance , we were very glad when the LAST NIGHT Of THE MISSION , came .

Bell , book , candle , high cross , thurible , incense , all the hymns of Glory to God , we the altar boys dressed in our new , red , soutanes and crisp , starched surplices.... Acolytes Joe O'Keeffe and Mattie Vaughan whispering lewd , rude , crude jokes and the rest of us trying to keep a straight face , as we processed solemly , the Canon not directly participating but hovering , biretta (hat not gun ) plonked on head , hands deep in his snuff-stained soutane,,, yes this was it , it was all over for another year , if we hurried we could still catch the Sunday night film in the Classic Cinema , around the corner ....Men were standing up , putting their overcoats on , about to rush out before the local closed .....and then we heard it .....the thin whiney (sorry Canon), voice ,''men , men , just a few moments please .....I want to thank.........''Our hearts dropped to our boots , we were afraid this might happen (again) . Canon Joe Union , God Bless him , thanked EVERYBODY in the whole world for EVERYTHING in the whole world , and that was just his starting point , he usually went on to talk about the dire state of the church's finances , and we groaned and sweated through every sentance , every word , hoping that it would finally end before someone died....
The Canon used to patrol his parish perimeters like the Witchita Linesman , although Rathgar Av. was closer to Rathgar parish than Terenure , the Diocese decreed that our house was in his parish and he therefore visited the area fairly regularly . Maybe he is still out there walking the main road between Rathgar and Terenure , searching in the sun for another marginal soul .
I remember the last time I spoke to him . I had told him that I was about to get married ....he suggested that I should arrange the wedding in ROME , as some of my fellow altar boys had done , HE would perform the ceremony , and we would save money on guests......
Ahh the joy of youth...
Laetificat juventutam meam.....

Oranges

Sometimes we tend to take the availability of fruit for granted .All types of fruit are now on sale all year round . Its still comparativly cheap . Why some people think it necessary to interfere with growing and processing of one of natures perfectly packaged foods is a bit of a mystery , straight bananas anyone ?...how about cubic apples ?......or shiny- red= beautiful-looking apples , which have no taste ?...no ! again ?
However the economics of fruit production can be very importand .Whether it is really necessary to genetically modify bananas or apples so that they can be packaged more efficently
is argueable .
In the early nineteen -forties in the USA , just after Pearl Harbour , in Clearwater , Florida , in the heart of the orange-producing country , condensed orange juice was a booming industry ,they were exporting to the UK and Russia . Because of the premium placed on space available on board the ships crossing the war-time Atlantic the system was not working very efficiently , however .
So ''Washington'' sent down an agent from the Dept.of Agriculture .The first thing , Dr. Robert James told the hard nose cynical orange growers was '' the economics of the citrus industry is crazy and you know it . '' Basically Dr. James pointed out to the growers that they were producung orange juice alright but they were throwing away , the pulp , the peel , the seeds , the rag and all of these things were worth many times the value of the juice .Dr. James had had experience as research director in Du Pont , among other companies , and over a period of time was able to show the growers that the by-products of orange processing included the following :

from the seeds a dye that could fix any colour in artificial silk ,

also from the seeds a margarine and vegetable fats for cooking ,

from the peel terpenes ( used in paint ) and carotene ,

from the white pulp a substance called pectine ( apparently a gelling agent used in the treatment of deep wounds )

from the balance of the pulp ethyl alcohol ( used in making smokeless powder )

feed yeast for cattle ,

an activated carbon for use in absorbing unpleasant smells ,

an extract for use in dried milk and dried eggs ,

something called alpha cellulose , used in the making of cellophane ,

So Dr. James argued that the growers had been 'throwing away' about 95% of the potantial value of the orange and that the orange juice could almost be described as a by-product of orange processing .

That was over 60 years ago , the mind boggles trying to imagine what by products can be produced from fruit processing , nowadays .

Jack Nolan

I remember him clearly , sitting by the fire , it seemed to me Summer or Winter , wearing his hat ( I can't say that I ever saw him NOT wearing his hat ) , tobacco-stained moustache , poking the fire .....always , always poking the fire . ( I can remember clearly one day when I was fiddling with the poker and accidently pulled over a large sooty kettle , which was constantly on the boil on the 'range', scalding my legs seriously and having the doctor apply lotion to the huge blisters which resulted . As it was near Christmas and all my siblings were off to see Santa Clause in Clearys my physical pain was added to by disappointment , even though I did get my Santa present by proxy . )
This was Tom Nolan , my maternal grandfather . He outlived his wife Kate by many years as he did most of his peers . When I was 5 or 6 or maybe older I would see him almost daily during my school mid-day break . He was a dour man but not without humour . He had little patience with two 5 or 6- year- old boys , myself and my younger brother and our kindly grandmother Kate had often to warn us to 'make ourselves scarce ' because grandad Tom had gone outside to cut a switch , to curb our boisterousness (?).For the record we never actually saw this infamous 'switch'.
Tom Nolan , was a retired tram-driver , from the Dublin United Tramway Company (D.U.T.C.)
a private tram company before CIE was formed .He and his family (during my time this consisted of two surviving daughters , my mother and her sister. ).Tram Villas , was the address and many of the tram employees lived in such accomodation , a terrace of small , comfortable houses in the midst of a stirring suburb of Dublin City , Terenure .
Patrick Pearse and his Volunteers would have passed by the end of that terrace on the morning of the Easter Rising on their way from Pearse's school in St. Enda's in Rathfarnham in to O'Connell St. (Sackville St.) and into Irish History . It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Tom may have been driving the tram that took some of the rebels on that journey .At that time Tom and Kate would have had a son , birth cert name John but always called Jack . Tom's son would not have been at home when the Volunteers passed by on Easter Monday , he had already volunteered to join the 6th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusillers in 1915 . I was told by my mother that he gave his age as 17 when he was in fact only 16 .Like Pearse , Jack died in 1916 (Oct) in Greece on what he believed was an equally important mission .
But when I knew Tom Nolan he was not allowed to shout from the rooftops how proud he was of his son because after 1922 the only heros we were allowed to acknowledge were those who died here .
So Jack Nolan at 16 years of age volunteered . Apparently he was initally sent on 'home' duties , for example I remember my mother telling me that Jack had written to his parents about being assigned to duty in Cork following the sinking of the Luisitania , that duty was to help collect the bodies as they were washed up on the beach , as the ship had been sunk not too far off shore .
I also remember my mother telling me of letters received by her parents from Jack's commanding officer , saying that Jack had volunteered to 'go to the front' twice but because of his age he was refused but if he volunteered a third time he would be allowed to go .....Jack Nolan , Corporal , aged 18 years died fighting in Greece on 3rd Oct,1916 , no. 18890 and is buried in a military cemetary Struma in Greece about 65 kilometers from Tessolonica...
To my knowledge no member of the family has ever visited his grave ,(yet?) certainly Tom
or Kate didn't .
Tom Nolan was a simple man and must have been terribly confused when his young hero son ( and tens of thousands like him ) were vilified in 'memoirs' of various home-grown 'heros' for 'taking the King's shilling '.
Thank God this is all changing now and myself and my wife won't feel awkward anymore when we wear the ''Poppy'' on Rememberance Sunday......
For Tom and Kate Nolan , their son Jack , daughters , Kathleen , Carmel , Josie .

Medical Card

As one who is approaching the 'seventh age ', 'sans eyes , sans teeth ..etc' , and not considering myself 'comfortable' , either financially or physically , I can understand the anger that has arisen due to withdrawal of the medical card for the over 70's Most people who are objecting also point out what the Government DIDN'T do , , taxing the super -rich , telling us whats really happening with the Banks and most of all apparently doing nothing about curbing public expenditure .. , . If such action had been taken at least my age group would be less outraged . , and more prepared to take the 'hit' . But , of course that would have meant the Government taking on the public sector and in particular the civil service . What are the chances of ANY elected Government taking on the very people that they depend on , to stay in power , as Sam Goldwyn would have said '' they can be summed up in two words.... imm.-possible.''So if anything .is to be done it will have to done by a group of people who are outside and above politics . Say 10 or 12 people who have already shown their worth and served the state honourably , whom we all know and trust , who have nothing to gain by their involvement ... . Make hard decisions that politicians cannot . Seanad Eireann should be the pool from which this group are drawn , of course , but unfortunatly the Senate has become so polluted by has -been , and wanna be politicians, and miscellaneous appointees , that is not feasable. There are some in the Senate who would be acceptable , but not many . Not the Council of State , these would have to be an executive group . This group could be appointed for a fixed time , say , eight years , and the general public fully informed about who they are and what they are proposing An Emergency Cabinet , if you willWe , the public , and the fourth estate , could allow the elected Government to get on with the day to day job of running the country without continually calling them to task at every turn . .We can all call to mind the type of people we need ....one suggestion woild be Peter Sutherland , who got himself into trouble recently for speaking out of turn on school teachers , his critics ignoring the fact that he was talking about only bad teachers , another and I can't believe I'm saying this , would be Mary Harney , no matter how much she is disliked in some quarters , no one can doubt her courage and commitment....she would be wasted in Europe .We could come up with this group and instead of continually harping on about greed and fat cats and bloated public servants let them guide us out of our troubles and maybe in in 5 or 6 or 7 years when we open the 'box' again we might find that the Celtic Tiger ,like Schrodinger's cat is still alive and kicking....or maybe not..

Joes' hope

Joe Blogs sat quietly playing his game of Solitaire , at this point it was the only game in town . A knock at the door signalled the arrival of Joe Soap . Now Joe S. was a very quiet fellow , probably could be described as a 'grey man'.Pays his taxes , raises his family , gets on with life practically unnoticed by the world at large , a cautious card player . So the two Joes played a dangerous game of ' Snap' (Chemin de Fer , Blackjack , and good old Pontoon , were too sophisticated for our Soap ), just to pass the time , very little small talk . Next to arrive was Joe Sixpack , (sometimes called ''Smokin'' Joe ) , now he was a different kettle -of-fish .Joe S/p was bounced into the headlines by a pushy woman , who , herself , was best known for the fact that she put make-up on her pet pig ( just like that woman in 'Misery' ) . Joe S/p would be described in some circles as 'trailer trash' , torn , grubby T- shirt , carrying his usual six-pack of cheap beer , coughing , with the ash of his Marlboro dangling precariously . We played Sixpack's favourite game of 'Shoot' , an even more dangerous game than 'Snap'. Joe The Plumber made his usual boisterous entrance , next . Joe the Plumber has no connection at all with the equally famous Paddy the Plasterer . Joe became known to the world at large through the good offices of a 72 -year-old politician who used him in an example of the best way to distribute wealth (unlike Paddy the Plasterer who allowed a politician distribute his wealth for him ).


A great game of Texas -Hold-'Em commenced . the Plumber showed the others HIS way of distributing wealth by winning everything on the table .
The small talk during the game covered the important topics of Faith , Hope and Charity , in todays world . All agreed that Faith had been given a good kicking in recent years due in part to the actions or lack of action within the various churches , the general state of the world and advances in science etc , Charity ( giving to others ) was already under pressure , even before the credit crunch . So we are left with Hope.....we must convince ourselves that things are so bad that they can only get better....so went the discussion...
When the game was over and everyone was packing up , three Joes nursing their losses , one counting his winnings . Joe Soap slipped out the door before anyone noticed , Joe Sixpack drained his last can of beer ,belched , stretched , and rolled off into the night , in a cloud of cigarette smoke . Joe the Plumber mopped up all the cash on the table , grinned and went off , probably to redistribute his winnings among the local bookmakers .
Joe Blogs , emptied the ash trays , sat back down and returned to his game of 'Solitaire' and as he dealt them out again , he wondered why the 5th Joe , Joe McDoakes , the original guy behind the ''8'' ball , hadn't turned up ......Joe McD . was usually the loser......

The Professionals

A few years ago I heard some nurses getting very angry because what they did was being described as a vocation rather than a profession . They seemed to feel that somehow being described as a member of a profession gave them a higher status , that the very fact of having degrees or other academic achievement made them professionals .Academic achievment is not enough .
A person who is dedicated to their job to the exclusion of everything else , who enjoys and gets satisfaction in going to work to my mind is the professional . Nurses who are prepared to give attention to a patient , even though they may have no obligation to do so at the time are more professional than the ones who say 'sorry, thats not my job , see somebody else...'.
The teaching profession is another example . We all know teachers who are just marking time on their way to retirement , on the other hand we also know teachers who are shining lights in the profession . I can remember a primary teacher I had , almost 60 years ago , I can still clearly see his face , a truly dedicated man , way ahead of his time . Not that he gave any particular attention , or favouritism to my self , in fact as 'the cane ' was still the order of the day I had my fair share of that too . Its just that he had an ability to pass on knowledge and encourage all his pupils .Professionals like that will leave a positive legacy , long after they have passed on .
About 40 years ago I met another , newly graduated teacher and asked her what she thought of her job , 'I enjoy it so much , that at the end of the month I think ''I get paid for this as well /''
Similarly with doctors , lawyers , even accountants . No one has the right to demand respect .Respect has to be earned . A truly professional person will be obvious to all around him or her simply by the way they carry out their job.
Again many years ago I had just got a job as assistant-accountant in a large company and in a moment of weakness , to ingratiate myself with my new employers I' volunteered ' to do the accounts of Sports and Social Club , in my own time . ......Biggggg mistake , as any one who has ever done the accounts of a S&S club will realise.Someone arrived carrying shopping bags full of invoices , bank statements , cheque stubs , and miscellaneous pieces of paper etc....
You see S&S clubs are for fun , fun , fun , and they only thing that the outgoing treasurer seemed capable of balancing were mugs of beer on his head at the Christmas party.As I was about to give up in dispair Kyote Adabayou arrived at the door and offered to help . Adabayou was a Nigerian , a few years older than myself , who had already acquired various accountancy and legal qualifications and was being groomed to take over the Nigerian operation of the company .So without being asked , and having no obligation to do so he stayed and helped me to sort out the paperwork , it was like trying to do a huge jigsaw puzzle without seeing the picture on the outside of the box . Hours later , we completed the task . This was a man who genuinely enjoyed what he did , he showed a great example by giving all his attention to a relatively unimportant task.

Wherever you are today Adabayou ,good luck and thanks...

Texas

On the desk beside me is a sort of a 'coffee-table' book entitled ''Heroes , Heavies and Sagebrush '' subtitled '' A Pictorial History of the "B" Western Players ".
Since the 1940's I have been a fan of all westerns . The "B" westerns were my initiation into these films . Most people will have heard of Roy Rogers , maybe even of Gene Autry , but who now remembers Allan 'Rocky ' Lane or Monte Hale , Lash La Rue and a myriad of other cowboy heroes , all of whom had their own comics ( some Dell , some DC ) , Bill Boyd who was the actor who played Hopalong Cassidy had a comic in his own name as well as the Hoppy character .
So I always wanted to be a cowboy , well at least see the real western landscape ( lot of these "B" westerns were actually filmed in and around a ranch on the outskirts of Hollywood in California , which , having fallen into disrepair , was used by the awful Manson Family in the 60's , as a hangout during their murderous forays....not a lot of people know that ...as my former co-star Michael Caine would have said....)
Where was I .........?.
My eldest son met and married a girl from Texas and I eventually saw some of that state .
I wanted to see the Alamo of course , so I caught a Greyhound (?) Bus from Austin to San Antonio . Alright , alright all the scenery in the state is not remarkable , except for its sheer vastness , so on the trip I evesdropped on the conversations of my fellow passengers , who seemed to be mostly women . We stopped at a small place , I think it was called San Marco , a dusty Sheriff's car (the car and the Sheriff were both dusty ) was parked at the bus-stop , the sheriff was obviously seeing off a man who stood beside him ...as the bus continued on , with the new passenger on board , he gradually started a conversation with some of the women at the back, still eavesdropping , I gradually learned that most of my fellow passengers were travelling to El Paso on the Tex.Mex. border to visit their husbands/partners in the prison there and the newcomer was a 'good-will' prisoner in transit....I turned up my collar and scrunched down in my seat and stayed deadly quiet for the rest of the journey...
Despite my uneasy introduction to travelling in the state I found the people and the countryside when I got to know it fascinating . San Antone , for example , has the famous old Alamo Mission slap-bang in the middle of a thriving city , like St.Stephen's Green in the centre of Dublin....I had visualised it being out in the desert among the cactus.... , the Riverwalk in the city is actually below street level and the shops and boulevards are lined on either side of the river while the hustle and bustle of the city goes on above .
I was taken on a trip to the Hill Country to try horse-riding .I was introduced to a beautiful quiet horse called LBJ , except when some young horses escaped from the corrall and caused him to get a bit skittish he behaved perfectly.The strange thing about that part of Texas is that everything seems so tough and harsh , ready to scratch or scrape or bite , both landscape and animals....no tall cactus...just small prickly stuff , the branches of the trees , which LBJ easily avoided by putting his head down , caught me full face , look out for rattlesnakes they said ,,,,,are they just jokng ? No ...this is Texas...small loose rocky shale underfoot....now I know why they wear leggings , high heeled boots , denim , and wide brimmed hats , not for show ....just practical clothing for an unforgiving landscape.....in Ireland when driving in the country one often sees roadkill , like rabbits , crows , sometimes badgers.....in Texas roadkill consists of ...armardillos....( slow moving creatures like badgers and armardillos are not made for modern roads .) It was WB Yeats who first used the expression 'no country for old men' , I think he was talking about Byzantium or somewhere but he really , really meant Texas .
At another time we visited the Big Bend on the Rio Grande , camping in the open , with little wild ( and apparently dangerous ) pigs running about all night , but Don soon told us how to deal with them ....who's Don , I hear you ask ......well somebody else will tell you that story....
Since George W Bush was elected president the USA and Texas have been getting a bad press around the world , some justified , a lot unjustified . One example Texans driving huge gas-guzzling cars......the history of Texas is oil , anyone who has travelled on the vast , seemingly endless highways through the state will immediatly visualise that travelling on those same highways in farty little cars designed for shopping , would be a nightmare .Sometimes people outside the USA complain that comparativly few Americans have passports , however if you live on a continent of 350-4oo million people covering various timezones , same language , same legal tender , same government , where you can literally find a place 'where the weather suits your clothes ' at any time of the year , why go to the trouble of travelling 'abroad'when you can find all that you need at home ?
On visiting a 'souvenier' shop in Fort Worth , which was' manned ' by retired people , willing to tell us the history of the city and incidentally sell a few souveniers. Exceptionally friendly , they reminded my wife of the retired men and women who did similar voluntary work at St.Albans Abbey in England , their friendliness and interest ......the one tiny difference was that when we were leaving the shop in Fort Worth , I saw a beautifully made WINCHESTER RIFLE , for only $99 .......the Womens Institute still only sell warm scones......

The Untouchables

There appears to have been an unhealthy relationship between the banking executives / directors , the Financial Regulator , the Central Bank , and the Dept. of Finance . All colluding to tell the poor fools of taxpayers that ''all's going well , my Lady Montmerency '' when they saw or should have seen , this banking , now financial , disaster coming .
These people were not necessarily dishonest , just unbelievably arrogant , because this interchangeable club of insiders believed that they knew it all .Some bank 'chiefs ' were former senior civil servants , who presumably were appointed because of their 'connections ' .
These people considered themselves untouchable as far as our society was concerned .
Maybe now is the time for another group of ' UNTOUCHABLES ' to be formed , as already suggested by David Mc Williams . Just as Elliot Ness formed his Untouchables when tackling gangsters and police corruption during Prohibition in the US , we in Ireland should cast around for (say ) 12 men (or women ) , who are above Politics , have a track record of experience in financial affairs , have already gained the trust of the general public ; not politicians , not bankers , not civil servants , but people of courage and trust etcetc....I'm sure we can all call to mind at least some in our society who fit the bill......these untouchables should be placed on the boards of each of the banks that the taxpayers are now covering , and be given strong regulatory powers and responsibilities ....and only then let the banks continue their business , with the current hydra-heads being chopped off of course......

Oversight

The former chief executive of Lehman Bros , Richard Fuld was 'beaten-up ' by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Monday last .In extracts shown on television the Chairman of this committee berated him for his recklessness and spoke about the huge amounts he took in bonuses from the toppling bank , even listing in detail his assets , including apparently his three or four big houses .
This was greed ! However greed is a moral flaw not a legal one . The only reason for any company's existence is to make profit and , provided no law is broken , morality does not come into the discussion .Greed is a terrible human flaw but have the Oversight Committee committed an oversight themselves by looking at the wrong cause of this terrifying ( now )World collapse ?
The very people who are now asking greedy executives to give an account of their stewardship surely knew that these people were 'taking home ' obscene amounts of money and did nothing about it .
Where were the REGULATORS and for that matter where were the REGULATIONS ?
Are these rich , greedy , bankers , who were really following their predatorial (?) instincts , and are now crying all the way to their bank balances , are they carrying the can for the lack of regulation or sloppy Regulators ? Could this be an attempt to show that 'the powers that be ' are actually doing something , belatedly , simply to satisfy the roaring lion of Public Opinion , when in fact the real blame lies with themselves for doing nothing during the BOOM times ???

Discuss.....

Irish Nationwide

Irish Nationwide is one of those Irish financial institutions bailed out by the Government's guarantee . The Chief Executive is Michael Fingleton , known to his buddies in the corporate bull-pen by the familiar nick-name of 'Fingers' .
Before the € 400 bil. bailout had even become law the son of Michael Fingleton , Michael Fingleton Jr. ( let's call him 'baby'-Fingers ) , was on the internet in a flash touting for business for daddy's ailing institution usuing our Taxpayers guarantee to tell his connections to move their money our of their British banks ( not covered by bailout ) to Irish Nationwide .
When this scam became public knowledge 'daddy's bank ' released an apology....saying that the e-mail 'baby' Fingers sent was.........INAPPROPRIATE......on RTE radio's Pat Kenny Show , Gillian Bowler ( who I respect ), happens to be head of Irish Permanent-TSB , when asked for her comments on the Irish Nationwide incident said it was .....INAPPROPRIATE
Our Financial Regulator in a newspaper interview and on TV said that the Irish Nationwide e-mail was .......INAPPROPRIATE......

Cometh' the time cometh ' the word......

Graham

Graham died just over two weeks ago . He was 55 years of age . I had met him only about five or six times , but early this summer I had the privilage to get to know him a lot better .I saw him in action as a dad with his three grown sons . His deep concern and interest in their lives and welfare was something to behold and a great example to all fathers .
At his funeral service we learned about his life , growing up in Dover , his days spent on the beach and among the rockpools . An outdoor man who seemed to carry with him
an everlasting Summer . Most of the photographs of his life fearured him wearing his famous shorts and sandles and sun tan .
I'm sure it was no coincidence that the day of his funeral was one of the loveliest sunny days this summer . Even the wedding of his eldest son , five years ago , is still remembered as the hottest day in Ireland in many years . In the chapel during his funeral service his three-year-old grandaughter flitted about the chapel like a little pink butterfly .
Graham's favourite sport was , of course , cricket , the only remaining truly Summer sport .
It is hard to know the right words of sympathy to express to his dear wife and wonderful sons except that he will always be remembered by all those who knew him as a man of great courage .
Truly a dad for all seasons especially Summer .
Graham RIP.

'POP' ,goes the big red balloon....

I know three-year-old who does'nt like balloons . Well , maybe she is just wary of balloons . ''Papa , can we put the balloon outside " she says . She does'nt know much about Science or Physics and she has'nt really read many books on Politics or Economics .She just knows from all her years of vast experience that balloons have a tendancy to go 'POP' without much warning and give little people a great fright . Sometimes balloons lie in a corner and quietly disappear , but usually they go 'POP'.

There are some politicians and economists who have the 'savvy' of a three-year-old but it seems to me that most of them appeared to be completely oblivious to the growing threat of our housing balloon . They allowed a normal demand for 'a roof over our heads ' , that occurrs in all societies , to become the complete basis of our economy .
Landowners , developers , builders and indirectly national and local politicians benefitted from a deliberate Government policy to encourage a sunami of national HOME-building . Apart trom tax incentives , softening of Planning Permission requirements , regular meetings with the 'building lobby 'every effort possible was made by the powers- that- be ,to smooth the path of this lobby .
Queues formed at the launch of new phases of property developments , sometimes overnight , to buy grossly overpriced HOMES . Because of low European bank rates , money was easily available .These carefully controlled queues found that Phase 1 was sold out fairly quickly and the disappointed ones were introduced to Phase 2 . If any hopeful buyer had the nerve to ask "Whats the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 ?",they were informed arrogantly..."about TWENTY GRAND !".
About two years ago when some economists and some independent property experts began to suggest that , just maybe , some of these devalopments were overpriced and there was a possibility , just a possibility...mind , of a problem of negative equity 'down the road ', the incestous 'building lobby', which also included BIG SHOTS from the BIG BANKS , jumped in to ridicule the "nay sayers " as they were called . Our 'fundamentals' were sound , said they...how unpatriotic of these 'prophets of doom ' who are trying to 'talk diown ' our booming economy.Banks were allowed to introduce 100% or even 100% plus mortgages , they were allowed to spread mortgages over 40 years and to top it all off in case anyone might still think that the housing-balloon was overinflating , the spin doctors from the banks and government started to suggest that there would , at worst , be a 'soft landing'. Then our Tasoiseach (now former -Taoiseach ) , made comments such as ' these nay sayers who are talking down the economy should go off and commit suicide , that "If you had bought your houses last year they would be worth at least 10% more this year ", thereby pouring petrol on a bonfire .... puffing up further an already overinflated balloon .
So the balloon did not just ebb away quietly in a corner , it went 'POP' as my three -year-old grandaughter told us all that it would.....

Conspiracy Theory

A Large , I say a LARGE , Hadron Collider , is to be tested this week in Switzerland . This is due to take place on the 11th September , yes the 7th anniversary of 9/11.This experiment could have very serious effects on "life- as- we- know - it - Tim(?) "
The lunatic fringe , of which I am of course a fully paid-up member ; we feel that one of the side effects could be the creation of black holes (we in the L.F. know all about black holes , if YOU don't , read Stephen Hawking ).
These BH's are capable of swallowing up the universe . Of course WE know that the fact that this experiment JUST HAPPENS to coincide with a world wide recession is no coincidense at all .
All the money in all the financial centres in all the world will just disappear down this hole , and all the wankers ....oops sorry ..I mean bankers ........ of the world will tell the governments of the world that now that they have lost all their (our?) money , through NO fault of their own , please can they , the governments , give them a dig -out by returning their (our?) money to them a.s.a.p. so they can start scre..ing us all over again .
"Nonsense!" I hear you say.(hand cupped to ear )....
But haven't they ALREADY sunk € 5.5billion mil. in a hole in the ground.....gotta go ...can't talk now....eating...
.

The Woman from the North....

A man , who was about to become the leader of his country , was thinking who would be an appropriate second-in-command . He decided that in this day and age that this person should be a woman . That obviously she should have some political experience . Known , but not too well known . Young , with a family , and be good looking . But most of all she should be from a fairly remote part of the country , say the north-west ...

And that is why , in my opinion , BRIAN COWEN chose MARY COUGHLAN as Taniaste...

The Championship Season.

"Well , has he left or not ? " . This was the opening comment from an RTE presenter this AM . Not being a sports buff it took me some time to find out that the presenter and her sports-reporter colleague were discussing the movenent or non movement of Kevin Keegan form his position as a team manager . For the past week or so all the most of the sports reporting seems to revolve around some thing called the 'window' . Apparently at this time of year all transfers of players (and apparently managers as well ) in English soccer , and lets face it that seems to be the only game that REALLY matters , must take place within certain defined dates .

Although I'm definitely not a football fanatic I am prepared to suffer the drawn out second by second , and in GAA blow by blow reporting and analyses of football matches , provided they are reasonably important , but the interviews at the moment are all about MONEY.

The sports presenters , and RTE in particular , seem to have this fixation on the salaries , wives (and girlfriends ) , homes , cars , and lifestyle of these players .Not much is being said about actually kicking a ball . What is a football managers job anyway ? Their faces seem to be more prominant than the actual players .They appear on television against a now-compulsary background of sports logos , muttering the same inane garbage concerning a game that most of the viewers had already spent over 90 minutes watching and telling them all over again what they had just witnessed.The same scenario after each game ad infinitum , ad nauseum.

Suggestions ....why don't they use real four-letter words if they are unhappy with the result ?

Why don't they have the REAL fans standing behind them , instead of those silly logos , the youngsters .....who are the ones to whom all this stuff should be directed . Why don't the managers sometimes have a spitoon and chew 'baccy during the interview , occasionally lobbing a 'gob' into the spitoon to emphasise a point and to get people really animated ? Why don't these guys appear in their underwear wearing silly hats ? And why oh why do we not have WOMEN managers , as apparently there are so many incompetant managers out there whose teams cannot do better than one in a row? What do managers do ? What is the players job?

Please STOP talking money and start kicking the ball royghly in the direction of the opponents goalmouth. Bring back Matt Busby !

Back Again....

Here I am , back again ,don't ask me where I've been ....
Thinking about stories and such , it is possible to condense any story down to its essence (precise?) , for example ''Gone With the Wind''....' "War" said Scarlett "Well fiddle-de-dee". BOOM ! Ashley goes off to war . Atlanta burns . Rhett comes , Rhett goes again . "Fiddle-de-dee " says Scarlett . "I'll think about it tomorrow . After all ...tomorrow is another day ".
On the other hand it is also possible to string out a story to infinity...."It was a dark and stormy night. The captain and the crew sat on the deck . The captain said to the first-mate : "Tell us a story ". The mate began :" It was a dark and stormy night . The captain and the crew sat on the deck . The captain said to the first-mate :" Tell us a story ". The mate began : "It was a dark and stormy night . The captain and the crew sat on the deck . The captain said to the first-mate :" Tell us a story ". The mate began..............etc etc ad infinitum.....
Now see what you have been missing......
Ronnie Drew died recently RIP , I've just listened to a recording of his version of " Dublin in the Rare Auld (owled ) Times " and the line about "the Royal long since pulled down " reminded me of the photographs in the newspapers at the time showing Mickser Reid helping the demolition men on the site . "Who'se Mickser Reid ? " I hear you ask . (You did'nt ? ) Well I'll tell you anyway . Mickser played in pantomime . He was a dwarf ( no not a midget..despite the argument in "In Bruge ") . In my memory pantos would not have been the same without him . Nowadays of course it would not be politically correct to laugh at a person because he was small , but his stature was as much a part of the humour of pantos as , say Jimmy O'Dea's rubber face or Cecil Sheridan's stammer . It was called ' entertainment ' and Mickser , Jimmy , and Cecil were loved for the laughter they brought to us all .
More anon...hope I don't get lost again

IDA and other public sector

Barry O'Leary , chief executive of the IDA ( yes another quango ) , recently commented , quite rightly in my opinion , that now in the circumstances of the Irish economy , we should 'bench mark ' our wages and salaries to international levels . In other words we should stop over- paying ourselves in order to remain competitive in international markets .
Every reasonable person will agree with this .
Its just a pity that the same reasonable attitude did not apply when we allowed our senior civil servants to 'benchmark' themselves against some of the highest paid people in the private sector at a time when , all agreed , Ireland was on the crest of an economic boom .
The boom has now ebbed . The salaries and bonuses in the private sector (and , granted ,some of these salaries and bonuses were OBSCENE in any context ) will recede , some companies may even ' go to the wall ' but will the public sector ( top level ) accept a freeze or a pay cut ? Watch this space .
Of course , already , the lower paid in the public sector will be pushed forward to be 'gun fodder ' in the front line ...usually young nurses or gardai starting salaries are quoted , but the overpayed people at , or near , the top are never highlighted......
Who . for example , is responsible for 'forecasting ' our exchequer returns ....in the good times they were consistently UNDERSTATED and now they are OVERSTATED ....in BILLIONS...
in the 7 months to July end we are already taken in 3 billion less than our mandarins forecast.......

TV series...& more cats n' dogs

In a radio interview during the week Dave Fanning spoke to the actor James Drury .For those who do not know , James Drury was the fellow who played the part of''' The Virginian '' in the TV series .The series ran for 10 years apparently and finished about 30 years ago . Drury , now 72 years of age , was in Ireland visiting his relatives , and was delighted to find that TG4 was running the programme 5 days a week .A great western show I remember it well I even forgave them giving old John Mc Intyre that dreadful wig . I also , by the way forgive , the owners of the Carlton Cinema ,for showing one episode of the TV show as a FIRST RUN film a few years before we in Ireland saw it on TV.In case there is no one else alive who knows about (or for that matter ..cares about )this con the episode was entitled 'The Brazen Bell' and the Carlton gave Lee J.Cobb the starring role....
What struck me about this , well- conducted , interview , was how much the actor seemed to have enjoyed making the show and his obvious pleasure in getting the opportunity to work with some of the great stars of the 'big screen ' , such as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford , who 'guested ' on the show over the years . He spoke about how much fun they had making it and how he missed his fellow actors , including of course Doug Mc Clure , who played the part of his pal ' Trampas ', who sadly passed away a few years ago.
I must now confess that I am a fan of the 'movies ' for over 60 years . I even remember the original 'black and white 'film of 'The Virginian ',starring Joel McCrea in the title role and Brian Donlevy as 'Trampas'.We have come through a time when we (filmgoers ) have become very cynical about the excesses of all those connected with Hollywood and the entertainment business generally , so it was great to hear an actor , who had given so much entertainment over many years , himself , acknowledging , his peers , his job , and his ongoing fame .

This interview was broadcast about a week after a similar one , this time with Myles Dungan asking the questions , with the actor John Mahoney (prounonced MaHONEy) . He played the 'Dad ' in 'Frasier'.He also said how much he enjoyed making the show , looking forward to going to work each day , of course the money that he made , which gave him freedom to act parts that he enjoyed doing , without money being a big priority ,which in turn , enabled Irish theatre goers to see him on stage in Galway .
Some years ago Larry Hagman (JR from 'Dallas') , talked in similar vein about how the cast of that show became almost an extended family and that helped them to present with straight faces such ridiculous and repetitive plots including 'Miz Ellie's' double head-transplant (Barbara Bel Geddes...Donna Reed....Barbara Bel Geddes ) and 'Bobbie's' resurrection for the 'dead' not just after 3 days but after 3 YEARS .And finally there was Jonathan Ross' interview with David Schwimmer visiting the UK after 'Friends 'finished its run very similar comments about teamwork and bonding which seemed very genuine.
So maybe instead of criticizing them or being envious of them we should give them a huge round of applause , thanks for all the fun ......
Before we leave Hollywood and bearing in mind the recent comments about cats n' dogs.Who remembers all the doggie stars...Rin Tin Tin...Lassie....Bullet (sorry ..Roy Roger's dog ) and how all of these animals were sooo brave and loyal...I honestly cannot imagine a CAT...limping back to the farmhouse , using its body-language to inform the 'folks' , that the hero/heroine is in dire peril in the old-abandoned-silver-mine........No . A cat , becoming aware of the plight of her meal-ticket ,would simply , yawn , stretch ,turn over ,go back to sleep , sending up a 'thought-bubble'''I wonder who's going to feed me tonight....Good-night

FAS

Hardly a week goes by now without some report or comment being issued by one of our quangos.Are they trying to remind us that they are all still there ?
The latest comments come from F.A.S.and are concerned with the looming unemployment prospects in this country .The following sentance was included ;''A significant migratory response should soften the blow of negative employment growth on unemployment.''
Translated from 'civil-service-eze'this seems to be saying 'Unemployed ?..If so , please get out of the country before we have to pay you Unemployment Benefit ! That way we can make sure that there is enough left in the 'pot' for our own pensions .'
All this sounds very familiar .

There is a river.....

Most people in Ireland have probably grown up near a river . It may have been a small river flowing through a town or a village but it provided a background to their childhood ,
We tend to take for granted the simple pleasures we enjoyed , free of charge , in and around our local river in our youth . It is often said , nowadays , that children in the past were somehow deprived not having TV ,sports clubs , swimming pools ,easy access to transport ...etc..
Remembering my own childhood in Dublin in the forties and early fifties there seemed not to be enough time in the day to do all the things we planned to do .
Summer was , of course , the time when our days were spent in the environs of the River Dodder . We roamed from the Nine Arches in Milltown to , what is now Bushy Park , but was known by us as Shaws Wood . Four or five or six of us , with a vague plan in mind of which area we would travel to , all above areas being within easy walking distance for ten or eleven-year-olds ,exploring , building 'dams' , fishing , playing football , even occasionally , finding time to swim , becoming our heroes -of the-day ,Tarzan , Jungle Jim , The Ghost Who Walks , Lash La Rue (that last being a cowboy , not a sado-masocistic-female-impersonator.) The Dodder was there all the time , always moving and always staying in the same place .
Each part of the River had its own attractions , one place was perfect for fishing for 'pinkeens' , minnow , sticklebacks , using our 'ingenious ' method of a disused wine-bottle ,leaving the cork in and knocking out the 'dimple' in the bottom...attach a string...leave as long as you wish in the sandy bottom of the river and hey-presto... the little fish swim in , cannot find their way out again through the 'dimple'....gotcha.... and then we carried them home in a jam-jar.
The deepest part , but still not VERY deep , was at Orwell Bridge , the bravest ones would actually jump off the parapet shouting something like 'GERONIMO ' and plunge into the depts , or the darkest part where a small stream flowed from under the road , this was the place for catching the lobster's freshwater cousin....creepy crayfish.
But there was another river we had seen when being treated to a visit to the City .The Liffey.Standing on Aston's Quay waiting for the bus to take us home following a Christmas Shopping trip , with our backs to the quay wall , collars turned up to stave off some of the sleet whipping in off the water , or sitting upstairs on the bus looking at the river feeling that we were moving and the Liffey was static .
The Liffey became as familiar to us as the Dodder , a familiar acquaintence if not quite a friend.As we grew older our visits to the Dodder decreased and our familiarity with the Liffey increased . The first-run cinemas were our goal , we could'nt wait for the new films to make their way to our local , it could take years;, stage shows , variety , gaming machines all became our attractions .
We eventually left Dublin and saw other rivers ,the Shannon was probably the first outside of our native city , not really homely , more like the sea in parts , the Lee of course . Now there is a river about which a lovely song was written , the words of whice are GUARENTEED to bring tears to the eyes of grown men and not just Corkmen...."where we sported and played neath' her green leafy shade ....etc"
I cannot think of a song about the Liffey , but she has been personified by James Joyce as Anna Livia Plura Bella , unfortunatly , in the not too distant past , some genius got the brilliant idea of trying to represent Anna in what was referred to as a modern sculpture , with long hair reclining in a fountain , soon to become 'dubbed' by the native Dubliners "The Floozie in the Jacuzzi " , she 's gone now unfortunatly not "gone before the're up"The flamboyant Oliver St.John Gogarty once presented Anna Livia with two swans as a gift for saving his life when captured by the IRA ,(its a long story .... ask Ulick O'Connor ). Incidentally , Dubliners have a tendancy to 'dub' all their 'new' bronze statues with typical Dublinese names , for example Molly Malone , with her wheelbarrow at the bottom of Grafton St. was renamed 'The Tart with the Cart',a statue of James Joyce himself on Nth.Earl St. became known as 'the Pratt with the Hat ' or even more irreverently 'the P..ck with the Stick'..

Of course we have now seen other rivers outside Ireland . We know these from our history and geography books....the Thames in London , familiar to us from Dickens and all the books and films since , the Hudson in New York , not really friendly , probably put in its place by all those skyscrapers , the Seine in Paris we have met but don't know at all , it must be the language barrier.., I even dipped my toes in the Rio Grande , another disappointment. , after all the westerns I'd seen , all I'd heard and read about this mighty river , I was easily able to toss a stone from Texas into Mexico.
Presently I find myself back near my old friend the River Liffey , a younger version , between Celbridge and Leixlip and she is being promised a facelift , and I am getting to know thr River Barrow as it flows along through Athy........

Finally on pollution....I believe that in spite of lazy careless farming ,greedy developers , incompetant planners , and dishonest politicians we are beginning to row back the tide of pollution in our rivers and streams and , in fairness , the new green politics is playing a major part in making us aware of the necessity of keeping our environment pure.....

Cats 'n Dogs

People say that there are two types of individuals those who like cats and those who like dogs and never the twain shall meet . I must confess to being more a cat person that a dog one .But sometimes we (cat lovers ) , can be caught out . At sometime , as my children were growing up , at a weak moment , following continous pleadings , I must have rashly promised them that I would get a dog 'when I retired ',because a few days after officially informing them that I was taking early retirement I was reminded of my 'promise '.
So RUFUS made his appearence .Not only were we not very original in our choice of doggie names , we were not fussy about the choice of breeds . Rufus was described as a cross terrier , a nice way of saying a mongrel . I , being a cat person was well used to cats' independent ways ,i.e.''feed me , give me a warm bed and shelter and I MIGHT , repeat , MIGHT , decide to stay with you .'' This suited me fine .
But dogs are different . All I knew about dogs , to begin with was , one end barked and the other end s***ted .(I have since discovered the difference between big dogs and little dogs....big dogs bark louder and s**t bigger ).I soon found myself feeding , cleaning , walking , and generally looking after him .Dogs ,as far as children are concerned should be able to do all those things for themselves , just as cats (almost ) , do.Naturally I came to like him and when he was killed on the road a few years later , I missed my companion of my early retirement years .
Cats come and go , in both senses of the phrase , and don't appear to leave any physical marks behind them , but dogs leave all the accoutrements of their , dog-boxes , leads , chewed toys , scratched doors etc....So I promised myself.....no more dogs.!
A cat controls its 'owners' , can disappear for days at a time and one dare not ask WHERE WERE YOU .She ,because they are usually shes , ...takes up her usual place , near the fire , on your lap , on the sofa ...wherever is most confortable and secure .Dogs , and of course , children have no part in her life , unless they pay proper homage to her majesty .The cat ALLOWS you to pet her , but a dog BEGS you to. Dogs are famous for their loyalty , many stories are told of dogs fretting after the burial of their owner/master sometimes until the dog itself dies . Not so with cats , I have never read a tale of a cat sacrificing itself for its owner . No , one gets the impression that a cat will choose its next 'owner' at the wake of its former one .
Even when one goes on holidays a dog MUST be cared for constantly or put in an appropriate Kennel . A cat can pretty well look after irself with a minimum input from humans .
If a stranger comes to call , a dog ,after an initial round of barking will come begging for attention from the newcomer , but a cat will exit stage left at the first oppoptunity and disappear , not to be seen again until the visitor departs......and please don't ask me where I've been.
Finally in a competition between the two again the cat comes out best in a trice she can wind even the fiercest dog around her little paws just so that she can steal his food.....woof..woof,...miaow....miaow...let's paws for now....oh no wait a minute...I haven't told you about Max and Mickey..
Max is a fully grown jet black Labrador (dog , of course ) and Mickey is a young black male (we think ) cat .
Max thinks he is the boss and any time he spots Mickey , Max runs after him , barking ferociously...they disappear around the corner of a shed , Max in in close pursuit , Mickey running ahead , tail erect..from behind the shed comes sounds of , barking , mewling and scoffling .....then they come back into view ..except noe Max is running away , tail between his legs , ears down , whimpering ....and Mickey , the little cat , chasing him , spitting , hissing , fur standing to attention , all tooth and claw ....and the chase only ends when the CAT decides that the game is over.....

A Week in Biarritz

We arrived in Biarritz just over two hours after leaving Dublin . On time and an uneventful journey . For once we disembarked from a Ryanair flight without having the desire to kick Michael O'Leary's ass . Biarritz a small homely airport , we picked up our luggage almost straight away , well to be honest , large pink suitcases , with flowery tie-ons , are hard to miss . We saw our hosts as soon as we passed through the customs area .
Jean and Bernard had kindly invited us to spend a week with them .I had only been to France once before , a wonderful week in Paris last year , my wife had been various times before and even had passable French .Jean spoke good English and Bernard speaks broken English but READS English with ease . I was the odd-man-out totally dependant on my three companions to communicate .On the one occasion when I was left alone and a young lady spoke to me I tried , in my best John-Wayne-French to explain that I did not speak the language....another missed opportunity.

Their apartment overlooks the beach (La Grande Plage on the Cote Basque).Our hosts had , literally , given up their beds to us , and we had post-card views from our bedroom balcony.Jean and Bernard apologised for the weather as if the 16c temperature instead of the usual 30c was their fault .But in fact as it turned out we saw much more of Biarritz , and surrounding areas of Bayonne and Anglet than we would have seen had the weather been very hot .Bernard said I missed the bikinis (and less ) on the beaches ...but there will always be time for that .
So we saw where the royalty of Europe played and prayed from the late 19th century to the beginning of the Second World War . The Palace that Napoleon III built for his Empress Eugenia , the Casino , strolling through the streets of Bayonne , the tiny Basque fishing villiage Le port des pecheurs (?) with a small (50?) population but retaining its old traditions , including an elected Mayor , amid the tourist bustle , the Bonnat Museum , with its paintings drawings and sculptures put together by Leon Bonnat between 1880 and 1900 including two Le (El)Grecos ,light and dark of ' Saint-Jerome ' and ' Le Duc de Benavente ' , we attended an evening of Basque Choral music in the church of Sainte Eugenie , not forgetting the seals showing off in Biarritzs' sea world , especially 'Charlie'.

We visited San Sebastian which is just over the Spanish border and is part of the Spanish Basque country .The mysterious Basques ,apparently the origins of their language ,traditions , even blood groupings and physique is a partial mystery .We drove to the railway station and straight in to a row with the ticket seller who refused to speak French to our hosts and whose attitude , at least as far as I could make out , was remeniscent of one of the aforesaid Ryanair' s more agressive staff members .Apparently the Basques do not get on too well with the French or the Spanish .
When we arrived in S. S. on the little train the weather was beautiful , we saw the bull-ring square surrounded by hundreds of numbered windows 5 or 6 stories high , unfortunately no bull fight on that day .Our meal at a Basque Restaurant in a small cobbled street turned out to be a European melting -pot . As I have said , our hosts were French , who spoke English ,I am Irish , my wife is English , although living in Ireland , we were in a Basque Restaurant , who were not the friendliest ,so.....my wife decides to order ....Spaghetti Bolonese.....in Italian...which she confused with French .....and all this happened in ....Spain.
It was a lovely day and we really enjoyed it .

On Sunday Jean and Bernard took us on a drive in the Basque area around Biarritz ,we visited St. Jean de Luz ,Espellette , Cambo-de-pays (?),we sampled local cheeses ,chocolate factories (Homer Simpson.....ummmmme....chooccoolate) , the famous Espelette little pepper...

We were sad to leave Biarritz and our generous hosts .....and a country that produces such lovely food ....we enjoyed our days of wine and cheeses...(was it De Gaulle ,who said something about trying to govern a country which produces 300 different types of cheese ?)....Au revoir

The Lisbon Treaty Referendum.........now what?

On the day following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty my wife and I happened to be in Biarritz and while out walking we stepped in to a cafe/bar to shelter from an , unseasonal , rainshower . Inside , in the darkened bar , sitting in small groups were , what I would consider a typical selection of Frenchmen of a certain age , sipping their various drinks , and talking gloomily about the weather and probably the news of the day .
The conversation stopped on our entering . My wife , one who is always ready to stir the s*** , broke the silence and pointing at me said , in her not-too-bad French ..:.''He is IRISH ''...
I cringed , expecting to be on the receiving-end of a hail of French curses and/or flying wine glasses . Neither happened . Instead I began to see , in the gloom , shining teeth as they all started to smile and then to a man gave me the thumbs UP sign . Everyone there seemed to agree with Irelands vote .

' They ' are already talking about a two tier Europe .A two tier Europe being one without Ireland and 'They' being the political and bureautic establishment of all other countries .
I have news for 'Them' , a two tier Europe already exists , and what's more 'They' are the top tier where all the cream and sweet toppings lie .And more news for 'They' or 'Them' or 'Whoever'....You will NEVER win if you do not put a clear and honest PLEBISITE to ALL countries ...no matter how
long it takes...

I was fully prepared , at the outset , to vote yes , because I believe that Europe will eventually unite on all levels but it will be as a result of the ordinary citizens of each country voluntarily agreeing to it , not because our politicians and bureaucrats , try to sneak or force it through to suit their career paths or social status or pensions.....

So , goodbye Lisbon Treaty , hello everybody else in Europe..........now if we could only get this little problem of language difference sorted out......

Then there WAS blood.....

A hot summer afternoon , bees (or whats left of them ) , humming , sounds of children etc , etc all the usual stuff , ...will I read this page of my book , or go back to sleep....inside to do some very light paper work.....not a care in the world......bending over the table , suddenly large drops , like the first , fat drops of a summer shower , except these are drops of blood.....I try to stop the bleeding , not to get blood on the paper work , or floor .....in comes my wonderful , wonderful , wife (www)....immediate panic , paper towels to the fore ......the other family females informed .....VHI nurse on phone...instructions ....''pinch nose....hold head back....for at least 15 mins,...phone calls of advice.from all sides....''I am not going to hospital on a Bank Holiday Saturday evening '',20 mins later still bleeding ''ring Doctor Walsh ''....''Dad I feel faint seeing all that blood'' (why is it , with my wonderful family that whenever my wife (www) feels cold... I...have to put my cardigan on.....and when ...I...have a severe nosebleed one of my daughters feels faint ?)...eventually the phone is pushed into my hand...it is Doctor Vincent Walsh...''Joe ...go into hospital ...NOW..'') ...yes..doctor..Ambulance comes , ''shall I bring the bag of paper towels to show the hospital how much blood you lost ?''..No I would imagine that the LAST thing a hospital A&E need on a Bank Holiday is yet another bag of bloody paper towels '' www joins me on board...granddaughter refuses to even LOOK at it ....on the way (dissappointed ...no bee...baw..) www answers ALL the questions that the ambulanceman asks ME , he is getting a bit frustrated...so I suggest that at the next corner he should push my loved one out the back door....apparently ambulancemen are not allowed to do that....blood pressure , and blood sugar levels taken in transit all , amazingly OK...I'm even more embarassed , arrive at busy A&E Blanchardstown...all the usual excitement , so familiar from TV programmes....seriously ill people looking on.....''Whats wrong with this patient ?.......er,.....a ...nosebleed ....more embarassment.......sitting on chair in A&E ,my everfaithful www having filled in all the paperwork....I am in the world of really ill people....as I sit there 5 Gardai arrive escorting a swearing , handcuffed , prisoner , who is very much the worse for wear....elderly woman occompanied only by her sad husband waiting , quietly and , patiently in a cubicle , a very young , very pregnant teenager , sneaking out for a smoke , old woman , with tubes sticking out of her ,surrounded by her giggling daughters ( ?) and joining in the fun....and all the time the professional carers (and include the cleaning profession in this ) busily carrying out their duties....I and my wife , who had now rejoined me , stayed as quiet as mice ...this was an eye opener....eventually after about 2 hours (the bleeding having long stopped ) I very quietly asked the A&E manager if I could go home....and so we did ....just before we left the Gardai came back past us with their prisoner , still in handcuffs , and still complaining...as he passed (and this was a man in his mid 30's)' we heard him say to the Garda 'I don't wan't to go there ...I want to go to my mother's....my REAL mother's......'' and therby hangs yet another tale...finally as we were outside trying to get a taxi , my wife met someone she knew (of course..) whose daughter had been admitted ....this woman told us that all the Gardai cars outside were there because a Garda with a young family had just been admitted , having died of a heart attack while on duty (no connection with the prisoner incident)..and his family had just arrived ......we don't know the half of it...

Luas Change.....

Did you ever suddenly realise that you had been well and truly conned ?

I thought that I was the only person in the country who was suspicious of the way in which the lconnection of the two Luas lines was being delayed . Today I came across a comment on Wikipedia which said something like 'as we all know there is no intention to join up the two Luas lines at all '. Apparently those who know what's good for us in this , so called , democratic society had decided before the Luas was built at all that the Green Line , which opened first , was just meant to be a temporary tram service and the real purpose of opening up the old Harcourt St. line was to prepare the way for what now is referred to as a Metro .Again , apparently the whole track was built with the heavier 'Metro ' in mind .
Now if this is the case , a number of things come to mind , first of all the total cost of building the original Luas line(s) we are told , was €770m , but so far I have been unable to get a breakdown of the cost between Red (or Blood Line as certain elements in South Dublin refer to it ) and the Green Line , but having travelled on both (and incidentally wondering why I had to take a 15min.walk from O'Connell St. to St.Stephen's Green to get to Stillorgan ) , seeing all the new (or rebuilt )stations , the restored Nine Arches in Milltown , and the cost of buying back all the back gardens behinh Palmerstown Park and topping the lot off with the brand new state-of-the-art bridge in Dundrum (the original of which , incidently , the' bould 'Tod Andrews had torn down ,when he was throwing his weight around in CIE ) , I would make a wild guess that of the €770 mil. spent , at least €500 mil. was spent on the Green Line (13 stops/stations) and the €270 was spent on the 23 stops on the Red Line) .
secondly ..why was the impression deliberately created that there would only be one Luas Line , when they were planning to build two for the price of three...?

thirdly....where did the demand for a ' Metro ' which only serves a part of the city ,( a part of the city which already has the DART by the way ), where did this demand come from...?
And now , of course ,we are being told that the Metro building has already started......have a guess where the clowns who brought us the overpriced Luas , the overpriced Port Tunnel , and all the other infrastructure that could have been built for a fraction of the cost.....guess where they are starting .???.....yes ....Stephens Green.....the mind boggles to think what these faceless , mindless moneywasters will do with their bottomless Transport 21 budget , when they start digging up the Green....

If our new Taoiseach is wondering where to save on his Capital Budget......please start by forgetting about this Metro nonsense and connect up the Red and Green Luases as originally planned......

Hear...hereafter

The old arguments between what we will call creationists or intelligent designers and those who do not believe , or more correctly , those who believe that the universe is meaningless has begun again . This is a good thing because it focuses , once again , our thoughts on something other than what is happening now and causes us to think outside ourselves .
For those who have a faith or a belief it makes them think deeply about what they believe , and for those who have no beliefs , outside of the immediate , it causes them to conjour up some thoughts about their existence .
I have never really read Mark Twain but I believe he was once asked a question about the hereafter he said somethink like ''I existed for billions of years before I was born and it never caused me any discomfort....'' which is another interestimg thought , that instead of wondering where we go after we die we should be thinking about where we were before we were born .

These profound thoughts come to mind following the interview with Naula O'Faolain on the Marion Finnucan radio show .O'Faolain had been told six weeks before she was on the show that she had terminal cancer , totally out of the blue , she had attended an out patient clinic in New York with , what she thought was , a minor complaint , and was told , apparently in a causal manner that she had several secondary tumors .She did not wish to have chemo' and has now died .Her way of dealing with the devastating news affected all who heard her.
Basically no-one knows what is 'on the other side' and those who have a strong faith are the lucky ones because those who do not believe still have to explain to themselves about such things as infinity (Stephen Hawkins is working on that ), eternity (Richard Dawkins is working on that ) and of course as we gain more and more information in science and physics we know that there is no such thing as 'nothing '. Therefore all of us dust and spirit must end up some where.....now isn't it much easier to have a strong faith .....

(Overheard.....'where did yer man get all this rubbish......)

p.s I'll do a proper blog when something important comes along....

Kevin Myers /Celbridge developement

The following from K. M.'s ,I.I. 16/4/08 :
"A fate is being proposed for the pleasant little town of Celbridge which is so monstrous , so implausable ,so fatuous . that it could almost come from one of Swift's ghastly ,satirical fictions about human conduct .But this is not satire nor is it fiction ,though Swift would recognise it as a towering example of utter Brobdingnagian (? sic ) folly.

Celbridge lies along just one side of the Liffey , and its spine , paoallel to the river , is a predominantly Georgian main street :and appropriatley so .
Jonathan Swift would often journey to Celbridge , to calm the passionate yearnings of his inamorata , Vanessa , at one end of the main street. At the same time at the far end of the same street , Speaker Conolly was erecting what is now the greatest surviving Palladian mansion in Ireland , Castletown : and roughly midway between Vanessa's home and the entrance to Speaker Conolly's great house , Arthur Guinness was later to start his first brewery .
Now there are very few exports that are known around the world . The tale of Gulliver's Travels is one , and the name Lilliput exists in just about all languages . In this creation Swift invented the literary form of the traveller arriving in a country which is so similar yet utterly different . Celbridge was never Swift's home , but , as a regular visitor , it was where he first heard Irish spoken . Indeed , the concept of Lilliput might well have had its spiritual genesis in this modest Liffeyside town , where the contrasting worlds of Hiberno-English and Gaelic cultures met .
It was certainlt the home if one other great international Irish brand . Arthur Guinness , Celbridge- born and bred , opened his first brewery in the town while still in his 20's .
As we all know , in time he moved his business to Dublin , and thence to the world . Not only did he start Irelands greatest company , but he also begat , perhaos Ireland's most distinguished family , who down the generations have contributed more to this country than any other .
Arthur and Jonathan could return to Celbridges main street today , and recognise it still ;they could walk up the drivway at its eastern end , where Jonathan might admire the finisjhed Palladian splendours of Castletown , which he saw building during his visits to Vanessa .
But if Kildare County Council , and a company called 'Devondale' (where do Irish developers get these absutd cod-English names from ?) have their way , our two visitors from the 18th century will be able to see the house and the gardens ans the entire town , on the north side of the Liffey dwarfed and violated by a vast new extension to Celbridge , fronting on to the southern riverbank beyond .
The school of architecture which seems to have inspired the proposed Celbridge New Town is the M50 Orbital:a jumble of characterless , bland , concrete blocks , only suitable for lining a motorway .Some of these blocks are eight storeys , made taller still by the greater height of the far bank .

This hilariously named 'town centre 'is said by the planners to be an 'organic' development :but the 'o' word is another meaningless piety of our times. New Celbridge is as organic as DDT : in other words mere modernistic cant and developmental humbug .
Its one thing to build factories and shops near Celbridge : quite another to create ludicrous juxtapositions , a narrow river's -width apart. On the Liffey's left bank , Lilliput , on the right , Brobdingnag . On one side , naturally brewed Guinness on the other Milwaukee industrialised lite . Here stands Sir Edward Lovett Pearce's great mansion , with its majestic francini ceilings of Castletown : and there overlooking it , lies a hideous chunk of the LA beltway .
Of all the travesties perpatrated ion the name o9f progress , this surely must be the grimmest :for Castletown House was the first test of independent Ireland to recognise , restore and cherish its pre-independence , unionist legacy . And the man who was the pioneer of this was Desmond Guinness , decendant of Arthur . So the new,post -independence tolerant Ireland was born in Celbridge , and its great declaration of intent was the Palladian mansion which Desmond rescued from ruin 40 years ago .
Well if Kildare County Council and Devondale have their way , visitors to Castletown will soon be able to drive down a tidy little Georgian street , overlooked by huge office blocks . Then they will enter the splendid traffic jam outside castletown , caused by the new bridge which is to connect the new and the oldtowns .
Yet this horror will not have been done in the immediate post -independence Ireland , when ignorance and naivety allopwed many terrible things to be done , but by our new , enlightened Ireland , which in Celbridge once recognised the glorious legacies from the past and now knowingly chooses to over power them with brutal modernism.
Yet , I must be missing something . For tragically , incredibly , Kildare County Council ,has already zoned the 98-acre site for commercial development .
Furthermore , the creation of a Burbank -like Retail Mall and Industrial Park at Celbridge also has the surrort of all sitting TDs in Kildare and most of the county's councillors . That notwithstanding , if you share my horror at the perfectly monstrous proposals for the town , you have until April 21 , at the very latest , to lodge your objections. "

Democracy now?!

Recently the media were summoned twice within a period of ten days to press briefings at Government Buildings . The journalists , or The Fourth Estate as they are sometimes called , dutifully turned up , firstly to record the resignation of our current Taoiseach and then to record the 'beatification ' of his successor .Of course they were referring to the leadership of Fianna Fail also ,but we were effectively being told that this was our incoming Taoiseach .
Some of the journalists seemed to be there , on both occasions ,just to ask easy-peasy questions apparently to avoid hurting anyones feelings , in fact some seemed to 'tee-up' their questions to suit the known agenda of the recipient .

About a year ago the party now in power recieved 41% of the vote at our General Election . From this base they cobbled together a rag-bag coalition who have become our Government , but very much under the thumb of Fianna Fail
This Government has introduced , benchmarking for all public servants , notably referred to by Senator Joe O'Toole ,as an ATM (he was addressing teachers , but this applies to all public servants ).
This Government are now presiding over 1000 quangos ,they have increased the number of 'junior'ministers and of course the Taoiseach has made liberal use of his power to appoint fellow travellers to that most undemocratic of all bodies Senad Eireann.
Then we have our President , who was not elected the last time but 'nodded through' for a seven year term by Dail Eiteann ,
With all these people and their families , staff , and cohorts and with benchmarking (including the now almost unheard of Defined Benefit Pensions ) for public servants , this Government may have a permanent built-in majority in future elections simply based on the largesse they have passed on to those listed above .And considering so many of new tax-paying workers do not have a vote .
We are hearing mutterings recently about a reform of the public sector . Will this happen ? We have only to look at the farcicle response to Charlie Mc Creevy's DECENTRALISATION gimmick.
So maybe we can't go too far wrong by voting 'yes ' to Lisbon , the Eurocrats cannot be any less accountable than our present 'leaders' and anyway if we do happen to vote 'no' , we will just be told to do it again until we get it right , as with the Nice referendum.

RTE

Recently Gay Byrne and others have been commenting on the inability of many RTE presenters to actually pronounce the English language correctly .The former Late Late Show (or in new RTE-speak 'Lace Lace Show ') host is correct , but no doubt will be ignored by the new arrogant establishment in RTE .
Ever since the licence fee became inflation-linked the attitude of the national broadcaster to the public has been a careless take it or leave it approach .Someone seems to have decided that just about anything will do .The quality of programmes have deteriorated at the same rate as the salaries of the presenters have increased .These same presenters seem to have built 'half-term'breaks for extra holidays into their contracts .The increase in the frequency and timing of advertising is particularly noticable on TV.
There sports department must have people hanging out of the ceilings , the recent coverage of the U.S. presidential primaries had about a dozen RTE people wandering around America telling us something that was already adequatly covered by other TV channels.
But the supreme insult from our National Broadcaster must surely be the introduction of puppets to provide us with 'entertainment 'RTE-style.
In a typical Kings - new -clothes approach people in RTE keep telling us how wonderful Podge and Rodge and Dustin the Turkey are and only fools would not enjoy this cheap and , sometimes ,vulgar presentations ,finally the lunitics have really taken over the asylum now that the giant brains in RTE have decided to send an updated Punch and Judy show to represent our country abroad.

There's gold in them thar' teeth.....

At Christmastime an article in the newspapers noted that there was an increase in the price of gold.... it had just risen to $800 per ounce , and bearing in mind the visit of the Magi with presents of gold ,frankincence and myhrr (?) I thought how little commerce has changed in relation to gold over the past 2000 years . We would all still be delighted by a present of pure gold .
I remember when first reading the novel 'Goldfinger ' and Ian Fleming's description of Fort Knox . Just imagine, a whole town , to simply store gold . But what was the purpose of holding this precious metal ? Apparently to give backing to the national Treasury of each country .

Of course we have moved on from 'the gold standard ' , as it was called .The USA moved away from the standard in 1971 and the UK moved about 30 years later under Gordon Brown .
We are now seeing (23 rd Jan) that , because of the severe problems on international Stock Exchanges , the price of , our old friend , gold is rising rapidly , $900 heading towards $1000 per ounce .
It is said that central Bankers hated the idea of the gold standard , probably because it worked , but despite the sophistication of world finances and the interlinking of the worlds stockmarkets the commodity most in demand as a hedge is still .......gold . Oil , diamonds are also in great demand ,but oil and diamonds are useful in their own right....energy and engineering...but gold apart from wedding rings and teeth does not seem to have a useful purpose ....except that it is rare.... it shows that we are still puny in our thinking .....when trouble comes calling we depend for our salvation on a commodity buried deep in a hole in the ground , millions of years ago to somehow , rescue us ....

They also say that historically the value of gold has fairly kept in touch with rises and falls of economies .
For example a 'decent suit for a gentleman ' would cost an ounce of gold at the following points in American history : during the War of Independence , the Civil War , the presidency of FDR , and of course today.
That would be about right , one could expect to pay $900 for a ' good suit '....today...

The 'Dead Zoo' , swordfish

Recently my six-year-old grandaughter asked me a question about a swordfish. Having answered her to the best of my ability I thought it would be a good idea to take her to see the one in the Museum of Natural History . Then I remembered it was no longer open. Apparently a staircase had collapsed when a group of teachers were using the non-public area and a decision was subsequently made by the Office of Public Works that the whole place was to be shut down indefinitly .
It is still unclear whether the whole premises was a danger to the public or whether the OPW took the opportunity of closing it down for some reason best known to themselves .
I remember visiting the 'dead zoo' as we called it at the time , when I was very young , seeing the swordfish , sawfish , hammerhead sharks and indeed the whole toolbox of exotic creatures , re-created rockpools that children could study in detail and at lenght , from the smallest insects to the huge whale skeleton hanging fron the roof . A place to go on wet Sunday afternoons .
Now this invaluable amenity is no longer available to the public .
There have been comments recently from represetitives of the OPW regarding the good works they undoubtly did at Farmleigh and the Collins Museum , and how the numbers visiting have increased following refurbishing .
Of course this is a good thing , but the OPW should remember that a museum is a place for learning and reflection , and expressions like throughput and footfall are more appropriate to shopping centres and supermarkets .
All we , as taxpayers , wish the OPW to do is to ensure that the place is kept secure , clean , structurally safe and the the giant gorilla's testicles are dusted from time to time .
Just because the place dates from the Victorian time does not mean that therefore everything about it is automatically out of date .
Children can , of course ,get all the information they require from the internet , but this does not , in my opinion , make natural history museums redundant . Seeing the actual physical creatures , up close and at leisure is important .
The excellent work that was done in the Collins Museum had a flaw . The Collins Museum was converted from an army barracks and because of that access and egress to and from the individual exibits is difficult , especially if one is in a hurry .
So please OPW return our 'dead zoo' as it was , as soon as possible .

2008

So, starting a new year , my 68 th ,there is always a feeling of worry or concern about what the year ahead will bring to oneself and all those close to us .But of course a new year or should I say , New Year , is only an arbitrary event which only exists as a marker , agreed by us humans , in what we call time and therefore this exercise of celebrating a new year could be carried out by any of us at any given day of the year , our very own individual new years day.
Anyway we have started with the usual series of bad news stories , concerning tragic events which have happened and indeed those which are expected to happen or those which may happen.
These events are broken down over , environment , politics , financial , etc.
The most notable aspect of this years news is how much of this is being devoted , under all headings , to international events.
At the moment under the heading of politics , most of the world is concerned with the preliminaries of the coming US presidential election next November , under the heading of finance the state of the global economy is being discussed 24/7 on TV and radio .
And the environment is the most discussed because it effects all other aspects of life in this world.

But despite all the looming problems the most positive thing about the year ahead is that this world of ours is getting smaller and we are starting to understand one another more and more each day , of course we still have a long , long , way to go .....but even the possibility of Barack Obama becoming the next president of the USA , as things stand at the moment , he being of mixed race , only about 60 years after Adolph Hitler shows us all that this old world is going inthe right.......Happy New Year everyone.....